Monday, January 08, 2007

Israel Museum Closure

If you were planning to visit the archaeology wing at the Israel Museum in, oh, the next 2-3 years, you're going to be disappointed. According to the museum's website, the wing "is currently closed for comprehensive renewal and will reopen to the public in 2009-2010." It really is a shame that they cannot renovate a section at a time, so that a portion of the exhibits are open to the public. Or create a temporary exhibit of the most important finds. Until then, the public can visit the lousy Rockefeller Museum (some great finds, but poorly displayed and described), the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv, or the Hecht Museum in Haifa.

The Bible Lands Museum is privately owned, and was built with the highest museum standards about a decade ago. It will be open, but it doesn't have the important historical finds that I want to show my students.

Maybe the Israel Museum needs all this time to rebuild a new exhibit around the ivory pomegranate, especially after Andre Lemaire's recent re-examination & re-confirmation of the inscription's authenticity in Israel Exploration Journal vol. 56 #2.